Sanjay Mishra nostalgic over re-run of his shows amid lockdown, says “Humne kabhi TV ka sahi se istamaal nahi kiya”

Actor Sanjay Mishra goes down memory lane as his shows Chanakya and Office Office are having a re-run on the small screen.

The re-run of cult sitcom show Office Office amid the lockdown has brought back a flood of memories for actor Sanjay Mishra, who shot to fame as Shuklaji in the show, which was a satirical take on corruption. It was backed by great writing and fine actors from theatre including Pankaj Kapur, Asawari Joshi, Deven Bhojani, Hemant Pandey, Manoj Pahwa and Eva Grover, but Mishra shares that it was intensive rehearsal sessions with the cast that helped him “build confidence” as an actor.

“In my first TV show Chanakya, which is also on re-run these days, I remember on the first day of the shoot, I gave 28 retakes because I was told to emote and say all my dialogues looking at the mark instead of some person standing on the frame. It was very weird and at that time, actors were made to feel scared by saying ‘Sir, dialogue yaad hai naa?’. But in Office Office, we used to rehearse so much that the fear just vanished. Rehearsals polished me as an actor and thus, I always say that TV will always be a rehearsal for me,” Mishra says.

One thing he misses the most is the lunch break. He says, ”Everybody would sit together and share each other’s home-cooked food.” Since his character in the show used to eat paan all the time, Mishra recalls, “There will hardly be any studio in Mumbai where I’ve not spat paan. I used to feel very bad while doing this but my director used to say, ‘That’s your character and you are getting paid for this’ (laughs).”

With the return of the show on TV, Mishra too, has also gone back to watching small screen shows after ages. “I had stopped watching TV long back and I used to suggest everyone also to not watch it at all. In the name of entertainment, we’re showing rubbish and polluting the minds of people with negativity and fear, whether it’s through kitchen politics or the loud news channels that dramatises everything.”

Mishra finds it upsetting, and adds, "Humne kabhi TV ka sahi se istamaal nahi kiya by showcasing Indian culture, documentaries, good movies, and others. Moreover, earlier, every person working behind the scene used to get their due credit, but nowadays, TV shows don’t show the director’s name only, forget about others. It’s just sad.”

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